This DVD of Carroll Ballard's beautifully photographed adventure story Never Cry Wolf boasts a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film has never looked better on home video. An English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Spanish and French soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. French subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, but fans of the film will not be disappointed with the first-rate picture quality.
A single mother and her difficult son find family life isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be in this drama adapted from writer and professor Tobias Wolff's 1989 memoir of the same name. Nomadic, flaky Caroline (Ellen Barkin) just wants to settle down in one place, find a decent guy, and provide a better home for her handful of a son, Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio). When she moves to Seattle and meets the respectful, respectable Dwight Hansen (Robert DeNiro), she thinks she's got it made. Toby, however, feels differently after spending a few months with Dwight and his children and away from Caroline. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but to do so he emotionally, verbally, and physically abuses the kid. The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline, too, recognizes Dwight's need to dominate everyone around him. She sticks with it, though, convinced it's the best thing for her son, and several years of dysfunction ensue. During this time, Tobias befriends another misfit, the possibly homosexual young Jonah (Arthur Gayle), while continuing to chafe under the yoke of his repressive stepfather. This Boy's Life provided the first lead role for future superstar DiCaprio. The film was written by Robert Getchell, who also penned such mother/son fare as Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and The Client.
Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez star in director John Badham's action comedy Stakeout. The film is presented in very nice 1.85:1 anamoprhic widescreen transfer. Buena Vista has done a respectable job of making sure the colors, black levels and flesh tones are all solid and very bright. Aside of a small amount of edge enhancement in the image, this transfer should please fans. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English and takes good advantage of a home theater surround sound system. While this sound mix isn't overly bombastic or full, it does include some unique directional effects and surround sounds, along with crystal clear dialogue, effects and music. No alternate soundtracks or subtitles are available on this disc. Sadly, fans of the film are stuck with a completely bare bones release of this film -- not a single extra feature has been included on this disc.